


Washuus

by LatviaLikable



Category: Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Heathers, Black Reaper! Kaneki Ken, Dark Comedy, Death, Everyone else are Assholes, Its Heathers what do you expect, M/M, Murder, Seidou is the only pure boy here, Spoilers for the musical/movie if you haven't seen it yet, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-11-08 03:33:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11073207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LatviaLikable/pseuds/LatviaLikable
Summary: An absolute nobody turned popular boy Hideyoshi Nagachika finds himself getting tangled in a whole bunch of mess after he is recruited into the clique of the CCG's most important and popular people - The Washuus.





	1. Chapter 1

Hide felt absolutely miserable.

The CCG wasn’t exactly what he expected it to be. He wanted to be surrounded by those he graduated the Ghoul Investigator Training Academy with. He remembered clearly what they all did together. Trading lunches, sharing ideas, going through the tough training regime and so much more that made them absolutely _bond_.

But, looking around at all the people he knew he couldn’t help but wonder where exactly everything went wrong. He had some feeling that they would all grow somewhat distant from each other eventually but not like this. Not like they couldn’t stand each other’s existence.

Everyone in the CCG was divided and it didn’t make any sense to Hide. Wasn’t the protection of human kind from ghouls the ideals of the CCG or something? It seemed like a thing that they would all work together for, not apart.

Hide absentmindedly pushed the mail cart along, past all the investigators who not-so-accidentally bumped his shoulders. The blond went from desk to desk delivering the mail to his “colleagues” with a forced smile on his face. No thank yous, no nothing. Just rude comments from _assholes_  who decided he was basically equal to a mail monkey.

Honestly. Who did they think they were? Just because he decided last minute that he didn’t want to die an investigator, he was apparently trash. While it was a very heroic act to want to put one’s life on the line, Hide just didn’t want to die. Not yet, anyways. There was much more to life than fearing that you’ll lose said life or maybe someone close to you on the battlefield.

Maybe that was why everyone was so mean…

Or they were just shitheads. Possibly both.

No matter. It wasn’t like he was going to forgive them anyways. He found himself wondering if he would have turned out like everyone else and he decided he wouldn’t. Being completely honest with himself, he would completely turn over to the dark side, probably turning out to be that one asshole who kicks puppies and complain about his curry being too spicy in front of starving children in Africa.

The beeping of his watch notified him of the time and he sighed in relief. Break time. Hide avoided the large body of people trying to go from place to place and he could care less about who they were meeting and where they were going. There was only one person Hide was worried about.

When Hide arrived outside the mail room, a bright smile appeared on his face. Sitting on the bench outside of the room was Seidou Takizawa, holding a plastic bag with containers of food inside and two white cups sitting beside him. Seidou was Hide’s good and only friend in this hell hole he called a job. They met in the CCG Junior Academy and stayed friends from there. Seidou was a very fun, earnest individual which was easy pickings for the people who worked here - a small fish inside a tank full of piranhas.  

“Seidou, hey. You brought me lunch?” Hide asked. Seidou looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, I did. I got take out from that restaurant you like.” Seidou said proudly, reaching in the bag and handing Hide the boxed up food. Where would they eat was the question. Definitely not in the cafeteria that was for sure. There probably wouldn’t be any seats left anyways. “Let’s eat away from here. We can go outside and sit against the wall or something. You carry the drinks and I’ll carry the bag.” He suggested, holding his box of food in his hand with the bag hanging off his shoulder.

Once Seidou got the drinks, they both began walking towards the entrance having a nice conversation. “So, what movie did you rent for tonight?” Hide questioned.

“Heroine Disqualified.”

“Is that another one of your cheesy romance movies? They all end the same.”

“What can I say? I just like happy endings is all.”

Hide nodded his head in agreement. The movies were always cliche but happy endings were always nice to see. They continued to talk about what they were going to eat, what time they were going meet up, and what they were going to do afterwards.

But all peaceful moments must come to the end.

Someone snatched Hide’s food from his hand. Hide glared at the thief but, not surprisingly, it was someone who Hide absolutely hated. Misato Gori stood in front of him as she opened the box and looked at it in disgust. “Rice and chicken?  _Really_? I expected better, Nagachika.” She said. Not too far behind her was Akira Mado who held a familiar looking cup in her hands. She must have took it away from Seidou but, knowing his brown haired friend, Seidou probably gave it to her willingly considering his lifelong crush on her. Hide still didn’t understand it considering she’s an extreme douche baguette.

“If you don’t like it, then don’t eat my food.” Hide argued back. Misato stepped into his face, the few inches she had over him and that annoying horse face, she immediately made him feel intimidated. “Are you getting smart, Nagachika?” She growled.

“No, no.” Hide quickly backed down. He didn’t exactly want to get beat up. Someone higher up probably would interfere but they’d both be fired. And Hide needed this job. He also didn't want to be out of a job _and_  get beat up for the rest of his life because he got Misato fucking Gori fired.

With a turn of their heels, both women walked away with smirks on their lips and began talking to each other again.

Hide wished he could crush them. If only they knew they were crushing on the same guy. He only found out by complete accident when a badly sealed envelope addressed to Amon Koutarou slipped out it’s content all over the floor. Turns out it was a confession letter from Akira Mado, her handwriting neat with each E curved in a pretty way, but it was common knowledge around the CCG that Misato Gori was trying to gain Amon’s love and affection with all those ghoul kills she has been ranking up. If he just regularly went through everyone’s mail and found out what kind of information he knew on them he’d have everyone under his thumb and he could burn the whole place to the ground if he wanted…

But, no. He was better than that. That was something those three would do.

Still, it must be nice to not have to worry about being harassed by being the three Olympian Gods of the CCG.

Seidou wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Well, hey. At least we have one box and drink left. We can share it.” Seidou, forever the optimist and the light of his life. “Yeah.” Hide agreed. “Let’s just go to the cafeteria and get an extra plate.” The two walked down the hall together, smiles on their faces but Hide still felt upset. Though, he didn’t let it show.

The two friends didn’t even bother attempting to look for a seat and just immediately went for an extra plate. They were on their way out when the doors suddenly opened, startling the both of them. Before them, three people stood and Hide felt inferior - frozen in place. Seidou had to pull him to the side so the three could walk past.

Those three people were the gods of the CCG, the black plague that could kill your social standing the CCG in an instant.

They were the Washuus.

Yoshitoki Washuu - he is _loaded_  since he is the direct descendant of the Tsuneyoshi Washuu and next in line for the position as chairman. He heard he was the least bitchy of the Washuus but that was probably because he was a manipulative bastard with that fake ass smile he wears all the time. Sometimes, Hide wanted to punch him in his smug face.

Matsuri Washuu - no discernible personality whatsoever but Hide heard that the man constantly makes trips to the bathroom. Hide had a good idea why. Other than that, the only reason he is even with the group is because his dad is Yoshitoki Washuu. That’s what Hide thinks, anyways.

Then, there was Furuta Washuu. Oddly enough, he seemed to rule over everyone. He is, apparently, Yoshitoki Washuu’s half brother. Hide believes, personally, that he only does the the things he does is because Yoshitoki is the next in line for chairman.

No wonder he’s such a mythic asshole.

A small part of Hide silently wished he could be like them only better and less bitchy. But that was only a silly dream. Or a less terrifying nightmare.

The Washuus sat down at their usual table which was at the center of the cafeteria. The talking was more quieter which seemed to be another benefit of being apart of their gang. The moment you walked in, everyone catered to your every need no matter what is was. It seemed the Washuus liked the cafeteria quiet so they could probably talk about how they were going to go insult homeless people’s cooking or something.

Seidou tugged Hide’s arm, quickly snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Hide, come on. Let’s just go eat now.” Hide gave a nod of agreement and let Seidou pull him along to the entrance of the CCG. The sun may have been shining but it was extremely chilly out.

“The news channel said we should be having snow soon.” Seidou mentioned casually as he sat down on the concrete. Hide leaned against the wall before slowly sliding down it, sitting beside his brown haired friend. “I hope it isn’t too soon.” Hide sighed. “I lost my rain boots and don’t want to ruin any of my good shoes.”

“I could always lend you a pair of mine.”

Hide shook his head. “No thanks. But, you’re a lifesaver as always.”

Seidou had a quiet chuckle before he took Hide’s plate and carefully poured some of the rice and chicken from the box onto it. He then pulled out two straws from his pocket and placed them into the only drink they had.

“The perfect lunch by yours truly.”

Hide wasn’t going to question why Seidou carried around opened straws in his pocket and Hide trusted Seidou enough where he wasn’t afraid to do unsanitary shit with. Looking at both of their portions of food, Hide could feel the anger coiling tightly in his stomach. They wouldn’t even have to share it if Akira and Misato hadn’t stolen a the other half of their lunch.

“Seidou.”

“Hm?”

“Why do you even _like_  Akira?”

Hide saw Seidou’s cheeks turn a noticeable red at the question.

“W-Well. She’s pretty, smart, and we even kissed once back at the CCG Junior Academy. Even if it was by accident, I felt a spark between us.”

“She has a good half of our lunch.”

“Well, she probably needed it.”

There really was no convincing him. Letting him be happy seemed like the best option, anyways. Hide ruffled Seidou’s hair affectionately, laughing at Seidou’s protests and desperate attempt to fix it. They continued to talk about meaningless things like random things they observed and what baseball team would win even if they weren’t even a little bit interested in baseball. It was just conversation to bide their time.

The beeping of Seidou’s watch silenced both of them.

“Well, it seems like break time is over.” Seidou said, turning off the alarm. “Just a few more hours and we’ll be free.”

They both walked back into the CCG, smiling and laughing and bumping shoulders. They eventually parted ways and Hide returned to the mail room to continue his work.

 

* * *

 

Hide stretched his back, sighing. He was glad the day was over and that he could finally enjoy the rest of the evening. The blonde pushed the mail basket back into it’s room, ignoring the small crash it made.

He passed Mr. Shinohara on his way, waving goodbye to the man. As Hide walked through the atrium, he paused when he heard three voices in the distance. Hide followed where he heard the voices and sucked in a breath.

The Washuus.

“Hurry up, Washuu.” Furuta ordered.

“I’m trying.” Matsuri retorted.

“You’re so slow.” Yoshitoki complained.

They were all leaning over something which Hide couldn’t see. Washuu M. was looking over his shoulder constantly as if whatever they were doing was a secret. Hide looked behind him when he saw Mr. Shinohara approaching. He could hear the whispers intensifying as the footsteps came closer and closer.

“Who else is her-” Yukinori began.

“Shinohara-san!” Hide said, quickly stepping in front of him.

“Nagachika? What are you still doing here?”

Mr. Shinohara looked over Hide’s shoulder at the group of men behind him.

“What’s going on?”

Hide put his hands together, bowing respectfully to the older man in front of him.

“Some mail went missing and the they’re helping me look for it. Koutarou-san said it was okay to stay overtime. You can call him to confirm, if you want.” Hide said.

“Well, If Koutarou said so then I guess everything is okay. Goodnight, Nagachika. Washuus.” Mr. Shinohara said before walking away. Hide made sure not to move and keep waving back to the man before, finally, the investigator left the building.

The sudden presence of three people behind him caused him to quickly turn around. Yoshitoki and Matsuri stood at both of his sides while Furuta stood in front of him.

“That was an amazing lie you told. You even took a huge gamble on him calling Koutarou.” Furuta said. Hide shook his head, trying to come off as pretentious as possible. While in front of the Washuus one must not show weakness.

“Yeah, well, it’s the end of the day. People are probably enjoying themselves. Plus, Shinohara-san trusts whatever Koutarou-san says and he wouldn’t dare bother him after work unless it was important.” Hide explained.

Furuta nodded in approval at Hide’s statement, the other two following his lead.

“Who are you?”

“Nagachika … Hideyoshi. I go by Hide.” Hide paused for a second. Perhaps he actually could- “I crave a boon.” Furuta arched his this eyebrow. “What boon?” He asked. Hide took a deep breath and stepped closer. “Can my friend and I just sit at your table? Just once? No talking required. Just … if we sit with you then we might actually get some respect for once.”

The Washuus chuckled.

“I know things. Working in the mailroom allows me the opportunity to learn just about anything about people.” Hide felt dirty for making that confession but he had to. This was one chance…!

“Do you have any information on that one Urie Kuki investigator?” Matsuri asked.

“Shut up, Washuu.” Furuta ordered.

“Sorry, Washuu.”

Furuta looked Hide up and down, his near predatory gaze making Hide immediately feel uncomfortable. “You know, for a nobody delivery boy, you do have a cute face.” Furuta circled around to behind the blond, giving his ass a quick slap. Hide yelped. “Mhm. Nice butt, as well. A very important feature.”

“And a symmetrical face.” Yoshitoki butt in, putting his arm around Hide’s shoulder. “If I took a SSS quinque down the center of your skull, I’d have matching halves.” The man explained as he dragged the side of his hand down the center of Hide’s face. “That’s also very important.”

“Of course you could stand to lose a few pounds.” Matsuri added snarkily.

Furuta stood in front of Hide once more and looked him up and down. “And, you know, we could make you look decent for once in your life.” Furuta smirked. Hide bit his lip to hold back the offense he felt from that. “Maybe some chapstick. And, my /god/ you need an eyebrow trim. They look like someone smeared pubic hair over your eyes!” Furuta pointed out all the individual features that he didn’t like about Hide’s face is particular which made him feel almost insecure. His eyebrows didn’t look like pubic hair. Right?

“Washuu,” He pointed to Matsuri. “Get the file for me, ‘kay? Meanwhile, /Hide/, let’s make you look beautiful. Okay?”

“Okay.” Hide quickly agreed.

Furuta grabbed Hide’s wrist, leading him through a bunch of hallways before they ended up in the higher ups bathroom. Hide took in the sight, shocked. It was very nice. Much better than the regular bathrooms that was for sure. Furuta sat him down in one of the stools and walked over to a dresser before pulling out a makeup kit. Yoshitoki and Matsuri eventually showed up as well, the file no longer with him.

Furuta went up to Yoshitoki and handed him a pair of tweezers, saying something to him that Hide couldn’t hear. Yoshitoki seemed to understand since Hide saw that he nodded before the he pulled up a chair and straightened up his suit, making sure his yellow pocket square was nice and straight. “Stay still, okay?” Yoshitoki said a smile and, without warning, started plucking at Hide’s eyebrows. Hide slightly flinched each time an individual hair was plucked from his face. It hurt but it wasn’t as painful as he thought it would be.

“Hey, Hide.” Matsuri held up four flavors of chapsticks in the little vision that wasn’t being taken up by Yoshitoki’s body. “What flavor do you want? Cherry, lemon, apple, or blueberry?” He asked. Hide shrugged and was quickly scolded by Yoshitoki. “Um, blueberry.” Hide answered. Matsuri rolled his eyes as if Hide gave the world’s stupidest answer but he just shoved it into Hide’s hand and walked off to some place out of Hide’s vision.

The bathroom door opened suddenly and the rustling of fabric caught Hide’s attention. Yoshitoki paused in his trimming of his pubic hair eyebrows (he still couldn’t get over that) and looked at Furuta who held some clothing in his hand. When had the other even left?

“Okay, Hide. I found one of my old outfits that I think will fit you just fine.” Furuta announced. Looking at it, it seemed to be a gray suit. Furuta unceremoniously dropped the outfit onto Hide’s lap and clapped his hands together. “Now! Let’s see what I can do with that birds’ nest you call hair.” Furuta took Hide’s hat off and threw it somewhere else and gasped. “Do you even take care of yourself properly? Your roots are showing.” Furuta put his hand on his hip and sighed. “I thought this was going to be easy but it seems you’re more of a bumpkin than I thought, Hide. We’re gonna be here just about all night.”

By the time they were finished styling him up, it was already 1 o'clock in the morning. Hide made sure to stay in the streetlights to avoid the shadow lurking ghouls as he walked to his small apartment. The moment Hide laid his head on the pillow of his soft bed, he fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

Hide could feel his ear drums vibrating due to his alarm clock. Hide lazily slammed his hand down onto it to get it to shut up already and looked at the time. 7 AM.

Hide lazily rolled out of bed, doing the usual activities such as showering, brushing his teeth, and washing his face to truly wake himself up. He was about to make a bowl of cereal when his phone dinged with a text notification. Looking at the text, it was from an unknown number with a single message saying ‘look outside”.

Hide walked over to his window and blinked in surprise when he saw a red porsche outside his apartment with Furuta Washuu making weird signals at him. It seemed he gave up because he eventually just yelled “Open your goddamn window!” loud enough to wake up the neighbours.

Once the blond did open said window, he was met with loud sounds of disgust. “You’re not even ready yet?! Hurry up! Your pancakes are getting cold!” Furuta yelled. “Okay, okay!” Hide shouted back before closing the window. This was almost surreal. The Washuus were waiting for _him_  with pancakes for _him_  while he got dressed in one of Furuta fucking Washuu’s old outfits that he gave to _him_. Hide walked his bedroom and looked at the outfit that laid on the ground. He felt like that thing held some weird power inside of it. And it did, sort of. The moment he put it on, he’d be a Washuu.

Hide took a deep breath and began to get dressed.

 

* * *

 

When the group walked into the CCG, all eyes were on them. Well, him more specifically and it was a strange experience all together. He never had so many people look at him before. He even saw Seidou looking on in shock. Maybe the suit really did hold some sort of power.

The suit was gray and the same as the other Washuus’ suits except for the fact that he wore both a dress shirt and vest under the jacket with fancy dress shoes that strangely fit him almost perfectly. The only difference was that in the chest pocket of his suit sat a blue pocket square. He noticed the other Washuus also wore pocket squares (Yoshitoki’s being a bright yellow and Matsuri’s being a calm green) while Furuta simply stuck with a red tie. Probably because he was “head honcho” or something like that. While suits weren’t really Hide’s thing, he had to admit that he looked like hell on wheels.

When he was about to go back to the mail room, Yoshitoki grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the group. “Where are you going?” Matsuri asked. “Uh, work.” Hide pointed to the mailroom that was right behind him and looked utterly confused when the Washuus began to chuckle.

“Oh, Hide. You’re with us now. You don’t work in that mailroom anymore.” Furuta said, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye as if he just laughed his ass off. Though, Hide wasn’t going to complain about that. He didn’t have to deal with his co-workers bullshit any longer.

Damn, life was beautiful. 

 

* * *

 

It’s been three weeks since Hide became friends with the Washuus. And, oddly enough, it almost did feel like a friendship. Except it was more looking hot and bitching at each other from time to time than anything. But, he guessed that what friendship with the Washuus was supposed to be like.

Hide was fixing up things the mailroom - it more being a cover up to look through people’s shit for Furuta than anything. A tap on his shoulder caught his attention and smiled when he saw it was Seidou. He hugged the other with a smile. God, he felt like he hadn’t seen him in years. With the Washuus constantly on his back, side and front it was hard to ever see Seidou.

“Hah. Nice to see you too, Hide. You’re looking quite handsome nowadays.” Seidou said, hugging him back before lightly pulling the other away. Hide was almost confused as to why Seidou seemed so stiff but he was quick to pick up on why. He was apart of the Washuus now.

“Thanks, but. It’s still the same ol’ me, you know?”

“Are you sure?”

Hide blinked. Then remembered. Then groaned.

Movie night! He missed movie night!

“Sediou I am _so_  sorry I flaked on movie night. It’s just the Washuus had spent all night-”

“Hey, don’t worry about it!” Seidou interrupted him. “You’re apart of the Washuus now. That’s- revolutionary! Or some other word. It’s just, well, aaah!”

Hide chuckled. “It’s honestly just whatever. But we’ll hang out soon, okay? I’ll call you the moment the Washuus aren’t on my ass, okay?”

“Sounds good. Hey, I can actually tell you about-”

“Hide.”

Hide internally sighed at the sound of Matsuri calling him. “Washuu requests you in his presence immediately.” Hide looked back at Seidou and lightly squeezed his shoulder. Hide wanted to hear what he wanted to say but Furuta always got cranky when he didn’t get what he wanted, when he wanted.

“Tell me later, okay?”

Seidou gave him a small nod before Hide was practically pulled away by Matsuri.

Hide sometimes hates being around the Washuus. They seemed “tolerably nice” the first week he spent with them but now it was nonstop shit talking and bossing others around. But, Hide at least snuck in some kind acts here and there like offering to help people carry things and whatnot.

Old habits die hard he guessed. That was the saying, right?

But the difference was that people actually insisted he not help because he was a Washuu even though Hide would badger them until they allowed it. But this was a rare thing since the Washuus were constantly up his ass wherever he went,  _especially_ Matsuri. Hide was never sure if Matsuri liked him or hated him. He was sure that Matsuri was mostly on him to see if he would slip up by being an actual human being.

When they arrived in the presence of Furuta, Hide was surprised to see them huddled up together along with Misato (bitch face) Gori. “What’s … going on here?” Hide asked cautiously. “Oh, Hide! You’re just in time,” Furuta clapped his hands together. “Listen to this.

 

' _Dear Takizawa-kun,_

_I can’t stop thinking about the admirable skill you pulled of today._

_Please do come to my house for the annual CCG celebration party._

_I’d like to get to know you better._

_Love, Mado Akira._ '”

 

“Misato wrote it,” Yoshitoki said, an almost sadistic smirk on his face as he waved the note in front of Hide’s face. “She’s gonna give it to Shittyzawa.”

Hide quickly snatched the note away. “No. Whatever you’re planning, you stop it right now.” Hide ordered. “He’s liked Mado since the Academy.”

“Oh yeaaah,” Furuta recalled. “They did kiss back in the Academy once, didn’t they.” Furuta snatched the note away from Hide. “You should be happy. If he has common sense, he won’t show up at the party anyways and we’ll be loser free. This’ll also keep his left hand busy for a good week, y’know? It’s a win-win situation, _Nagachika_. You should be happy.”

Hide slightly cringed when Furuta used his last name. He only used it when he was severely annoyed or upset with him. But, Hide stood his ground and snatched the note back. “This is wrong. _God_ , why do you have to be an _asshole_?!”

That was louder than he wanted it to be. People in the hall paused and looked at them.

“What’s your damage, Hide?” Matsuri asked, trying to come off as calm and collected considering people were watching.

Furuta straightened himself up and took a slow breath. It was a simple action really but it sent goosebumps throughout his body. Furuta took the note back once more for the final time before practically shoving it into Misato’s chest. “Please do find Shittyzawa and give this to him, Gori? Thank you.” Misato must’ve felt the tension in the air because she quickly walked away with the note still clutched to her chest. Hide wanted to go after her and intercept the note but he couldn’t move.

Furuta’s presence was big. If Hide was an aura reader, he’d see that Furuta could have one thousand - no - one million ghouls bow down to his feet and beg to be killed just by simply smiling that fake smile of his.

There was silence. Then, Furuta spoke.

“Are we going to have a problem?”

Hide gulped.

“You've got a bone to pick?”

Hide’s palms began to sweat.

“You’ve come so far - why now are you pulling on my clit?”

Furuta grabbed Hide by the collar suddenly and Hide could have sworn he felt his heart stop beating for a second.

“I’d normally slap your face off. And everyone here could watch.” Furuta gestured to the crowd of people who still continued to look at them. “But, I’m feeling nice. So, here’s some advice. Listen well, biotch.”

Hide was pulled along by Furuta with the two other Washuus following behind.  Next thing Hide knew, he was being pushed onto the ground of one of the bathrooms. The public one. Hide attempted to get off the floor but was pushed right back down by Furuta who now put his foot on top of his chest, leaving him trapped.

“Nagachika, I don’t know what exactly has gotten into you but it seems I need to explain some things to you.” Furuta leaned down slightly which only made him look more threatening.

“We’re at the top. We’re the best. We’re the Washuus. And you are one now, too. Shittyzawa is at the bottom. The bottom of the bottom to be exact. So, I’m going to need you to stop being a pussy and get your head out of your old life and into the Washuu life. It’s been two weeks already. _Get with the program_.” Furuta spoke.

“Yeah, get with the program.” Matsuri butt in.

“Shut up, Washuu!” Furuta snapped before turning his attention back to Hide.

“We’ll let this incident pass for now, Hide. The best of friends do have arguments after all.” Furuta held out his gloved hand to him. Hide was reluctant to take it. Furuta didn’t seem to like the fact that Hide kept him waiting since he just yanked him up by the collar and got in his face. “If you ever do anything to embarrass me again, you’ll be history.” He hissed he let go of him and gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. “Be sure to show up at the party tonight! It won’t be the same without you!”

Furuta turned on his heel and left. Yoshitoki followed behind immediately, Matsuri spared him a glance before leaving as well.

Hide was left alone in the dirty bathroom with just his thoughts and regrets.

 

 * * *

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a while to get out. I was busy preparing for a road trip. 

“They’re gonna crush him, you know.”

Hide turned around in surprise. Turns out he wasn’t alone because there stood some guy leaning against the bathroom stall. He wasn’t dressed like anyone else, that was for sure. He stuck out like a sore thumb.

Black coat, red gloves, and round glasses. A strange combination which he had to admit he pulled off really good. Hide wasn’t going to deny anything or suppress his thoughts until later - this guy looked really good looking. Fresh, perhaps? It was nice to see something new besides CCG White or Not Very Different Gray so definitely fresh.

Hide blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” The blond asked. The guy (Mr. Mysterious is what he shall call him for now) walked up to Hide and pushed up his glasses. “You’ve clearly got a soul, now you just have to keep it clean. ‘Evil is like the blood on a newly born fetus’” Mr. Mysterious walked past Hide and left the bathroom. Hide stood there, in shock, before he quickly left the bathroom and followed after him.

When Hide finally caught up to him, he straightened himself up and tapped Mr. Mysterious on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, but you can’t just quote Takatsuki Sen and then walk away from. I didn’t catch your name.” Hide said, trying to give off the Washuu air of superiority. Mr. Mysterious looked back at him.

“I didn’t throw it.”

Hide’s internally lost it.

Hide’s could feel his cheeks burning and, honestly, he couldn’t recover after that. He couldn’t even come up with a come back. Hide was speechless as he watched Mr. Mysterious continue on his way. Hide turned around and walked off as well so he could go find Seidou since it seemed the Washuus were done with him for the rest of the day until Akira’s celebration party came.

As Hide continued to walk down the hall, his phone dinged signalling that he got a text message. Hide pulled out his phone and saw it was a message from Furuta. Hide took a deep breath before he opened the message.

> Sender: Fruit-kun  
> Message: check this out. battle royale in the caf.  
> Video Attachment: holy_shit.mov

Hide raised his eyebrow, curious. It was a video file. Hide clicked on it and sucked in his breath when he saw as clear as day that Kaneki was being surrounded by both Akira and Misato. They were talking to him (teasing him, probably) and he seemed to have made a smart ass comment which had Misato pissed. He wished he could hear it but everyone was talking so loudly, damn it. Next thing he knew, they were fighting.

Hide watched the video with a small smile on his face. It seemed Mr. Mysterious was a very noble guy. He kept dodging Misato’s attacks, refusing to lay a hand on her. Hide bit his lip and found himself pausing throughout the video to get good angles of him. It was wrong to look at fights but, with this guy…

_Damn_.

Hide didn’t mean to but he could tell he was practically swooning over the video. It was surprising to think he lasted so long against both of them. And the way Misato fell to the ground was absolutely hilarious. Some good ol’ fashioned karma.

Closing his eyes, Hide bit his lip and imagined holding his hand. It was pathetic, really.

* * *

Yoshitoki, Furuta, and Matsuri met him outside of the CCG with smiles on their faces which unnerved Hide intensely. What creeped him out the most was the fact that he couldn’t feel any tension in between them at all. It was like their whole ‘Bathroom Confrontation’ didn’t even happen. Furuta even looped his arm around his as they walked to the car.

Hide sat in the backseat that was basically assigned to him at this point. They were talking about nothing that interested him at this point so he let his thoughts of Mr. Mysterious tune them out as the wind ruffled his hair. Hide honestly didn’t know why he liked the guy so much. It was so cliche. The popular one and the bad boy. It was probably the base of every romance and shoujo manga ever. Was that who he was now? Some cliche pining after another cliche?

The sound of a motorcycle revving up caught his attention. They were at a stop light and the Washuus were glaring at the person on said motorcycle.

Hide squinted at the occupant and sucked in a breath when the guy removed his helmet. It was almost the world decided to go in slow motion as that black hair fell into place and he looked over at him with a silent smile that had his heart beating so hard that Hide could have sworn it was because his heart wanted to just run into his arms.

Mr. Mysterious.

Hide gripped his pant leg, his eyes locking with Mr. Mysterious’s gray ones. God, what a pretty gray. It was when helmet was shoved in his face that Hide realized he must have been staring at him. Mr. Mysterious was leaning off a bit with that _smile_  of his. Was it weird that he wanted to kiss that smile? Probably. But he honestly didn’t care.

“Do you want to ride with me?”

That question caught Hide off guard. Was that why he was offering the helmet to him. “What about you? You’re gonna need a helmet too.” Hide responded, tracing his helmet with his finger. “I like to live a little dangerous.” He said. Hide chuckled and he honestly don’t know why. It’s just the way his voice sent shocks up his spine that had him doing all sorts of things. Hide was about to come back with a comeback when he was jerked back by the car driving away. Hide held his chest for a second because of the suddenness of it all. He...kind of forgot he was with them. Hide turned his head at the shrinking figure of Mr. Mysterious who simply stared back.

Hide turned forward in his seat again, biting his lip. Damn.  
  
“God, Hide. You and the new guy weren’t subtle at all. You need a new pair of underwear?” Furuta said. Hide blinked. “What? Oh, no. I barely know him and I’m not-”

“Save it.” Yoshitoki cut him off. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep quiet. After all, you’re not the only one who has a secret. Right, Washuu? How’s your little _‘Cookie Kuki’_?” Furuta teased. Hide couldn’t help but notice how Matsuri’s hands tightened on the wheel and his cheeks turn a light pink. Yoshitoki and Furuta both laughed but Hide didn’t.

Hide just wanted to go home. But he couldn’t because he had to go to the stupid party. Hide held in a groan when they pulled up at a clothing store. Great.

* * *

“Try this on.”

Hide accepted the outfit from Yoshitoki with a forced smile on his face before he closed the curtain. The outfit was more fancy casual than anything but it still looked much too expensive for his tastes. He was pretty sure the blue shirt was made of silk. He was kind of expecting a ‘made from spider silk’ label somewhere on the outfit because with the cost of the shirt alone it must’ve been. As Hide began undressing, his phone began vibrating on the chair he placed it on. Looking at the caller ID he saw that it was his dad.

“What’s up?” Hide answered.

_”Hey, son! Just wanted to call and see how you were doing. Oh! And your mom said she baked a cake for you so you can come and get it whenever.”_

A small smile appeared on Hide’s face. His parents were the best. He really did miss them along with mom’s cooking. Though, they were stuck in the ghetto of the 22nd Ward - Katsushika. They always worked so hard to make sure he was happy and had a good life. Mom and her baker and dad working multiple jobs it was almost like they were superheroes. They were worried sick when he was chosen to come to the nearest CCG Junior Academy which was located in a way better ward and out of the ghetto. It was almost like they knew that his parents would still send him there since it was someplace better.

Hide is still trying to save up enough to get them out of there. He would have gotten enough already if he actually passed to become a ghoul investigator. How much did he actually get paid for hanging out with the Washuus?

“Alright. And tell mom I said thank you! I’ll try to get it sometime soon.”

The curtain of his dressing room suddenly opened.

“What the hell is taking you so long?” Furuta asked.

“I’m on the phone! It’s my dad.”

Furuta rolled his eyes.

“And? I’ve got a reputation to uphold at this party, Hide. Tick tock.” Furuta closed the curtain again and Hide rolled his eyes.

_”Who was that?”_

“Just some...colleagues. They’re making me try on some clothes for some party. Silk, dad. Silk”

_”They sound, uh, interesting to say the least. Just be careful, Yoshi. Don’t get caught up in the wrong crowd.”_

Hide snorted.

“Don’t worry, pops. I’m only hanging out with them for Seidou’s sake. They leave him alone.”

_”Are you sure you’re doing it for Seidou?”_

Hide paused. Of course he was. It was all for Seidou. Why would he even ask that? Hide was about to inform his dad about his reasoning when the curtain opened to reveal Yoshitoki.

“Chop-chop, Nagachika!”

“Sorry! Gotta go, dad. Love you and mom!” Hide said before he hung up the phone and practically threw it onto the ground so he could rush to try on the rest of the outfit.

He’ll talk to his dad later.

* * *

The car ride was filled with loud music which belonged to some obscure band that Hide never heard of. It was about 8 o'clock at the moment which gave Hide the chance to look up at the stars. They shined brighter than ever before which had Hide captivated. He found himself wondering if Mr. Mysterious was looking up at the stars too.

“Earth to Hide. Washuu is talking to you.” Matsuri interrupted his thoughts, snapping his fingers in front of his face.

“Huh? Yes?”

“I said go in that cafe and get us something.” Furuta said, pointing to the small cafe they parked outside of.

Hide sighed and got of the car. “Something sweet?”

“Duh. You know us so well.”

Hide looked up at the sign that read :Re. He wondered what it meant.

Hide walked into the cafe and was met with the overwhelming smell of sweets. As he walked up to the counter, he observed the other patrons that were inside. Some girl was sitting in her boyfriend’s lap while he read a book, another girl was typing on her computer and some guy was speaking to the blue haired girl at the counter. No, wait. That wasn’t just “some guy”. Oh god, that was a _him_. With the way he was talking to her, it seemed he was familiar with the girl. Sister? Oh no. Girlfriend?

Hide silently prayed she was his sister.

“Are you going to order or not?”

Hide snapped out of his thoughts. He really hoped he wasn’t just standing there and staring into space. “Oh, uh, yeah. I’ll-”

“He’ll get the castella and a latte. You do amazing latte art, Touka-chan.”

Hide froze up at the sudden presence behind him. He smelled like coffee and...blood? It was a strange combination that Hide couldn’t exactly understand. Maybe the sweet smells of the cafe’s sweets were throwing his smell off. It was probably something else.

“Anything else?” The girl, Touka, asked. She had a smile on her face but her eyes said she was ready to go home.

“I’ll get the usual.” Mr. Mysterious said.

Touka nodded and seemed to squint at Mr. Mysterious for a second before walking away.

Hide slowly turned around and looked at his mysterious glasses wearing companion. “I could have ordered for myself you know.”

“Greetings and salutations to you too. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Touka returned to the counter with the order. Hide was about to pick it up but Mr. Mysterious stopped him before picking it up and balancing the order like he was a waiter. Hide couldn’t help but think how much of a gentleman he was. They got a seat by the window and sat across from each other. It was almost like a date.

Hide looked at the latte art and smiled. It was a bunny - simple and cute. “Could you thank Touka-san for the latte art? I think it looks nice.”

“Yeah, it’s her specialty. All the stars aligned to her doing latte art.”

Hide chuckled.

“I’m Nagachika Hideyoshi, by the way. I got by Hide, though.”

Mr. Mysterious looked at him with a soft smile. “Alright, Hide. I’ll cut the suspense. I’m Kaneki. Kaneki Ken.”

Kaneki. Kaneki. Kaneki. It rolled off the tongue really nice. Better than calling him Mr. Mysterious all the time in his head.

There was a small pause between the both of them. Hide tapped his finger against the table, looking down every time Kaneki looked at him. When a warm, gloved hand suddenly sat on top of his, Hide really looked at him. Hide relaxed and glanced at the other’s coffee.

“Coffee, huh. You a ghoul or something?” Hide asked, jokingly.

Kaneki smirked and traced the rim of the cup with his finger.

“It matters. Are you into ghouls?”

Hide smiled a bit. If Kaneki were a ghoul, would he still be into him? Gosh, a simple question really had him thinking. The blond scratched his cheek, looking away. “I dunno. Maybe. It matters who it is.” Hide flicked a glance over at Kaneki’s direction and noticed how the other’s smile seemed to widen for a second. Hide’s heart increased a bit. Maybe he actually was a ghoul.

Hide found himself not really caring. He leaned back in the chair, intertwining his fingers with Kaneki’s.

“I mean we have borderline ghouls in the CCG, anyways. The Qs? Was that it?” Hide said.

“Yeah. The Quinx Squad.”

Kaneki seemed to have a distant smile on his face, looking off. Hide gave his hand a small squeeze. It looked like he’s been through a lot. He wanted to kiss his hand and tell him that he’s here but that seemed a bit forward. There seemed to be some interest between them if Hide was reading their interactions but they haven’t really done anything yet.

“So! What’s your story, Ka-ne-ki?” Hide asked, trying to lighten his mood up a bit. Kaneki only chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s a full-blown series.”

“I like listening to stories.”

Hide looked at Kaneki and signaled to him that he was actually interested in what he was all about. Kaneki sighed and shook his head. “Alright, alright. No need to make that face.” Hide straightened up in his seat and smiled.

“Well. The old man, you must’ve heard of him, Kanou Akihiro-”

“Oh man! That creepy doctor that hangs out in the shadows?” Hide interrupted, laughing. Though he quickly realized his mistake and coughed into his arm. “That’s your dad, wow. He’s-”

“Don’t. He’s completely toxic. I hate him. Lucky for me, we’re not related by blood. I’m...adopted.”

That slight pause was a bit weird. Kaneki’s grip on his hand only seemed to confirm that. Was he ashamed of being adopted or something? Hide held himself back from asking what it was about. Still an interesting reaction.

“Yeah, well everyone’s life has got static. For example, I don’t really like my friends.”

“I don’t really like your friends either.” Kaneki said, glancing out the window of the shop to the car. Hide did so to and cringed a bit at the sight of them yelling at someone who passed by before laughing. “How about you bag that party and hang out here?”

Hide chuckled a bit. “Oh yeah. Totally. Sitting in a small, unknown cafe and talking with the Washuus waiting outside. Swanky first day.”

“Hey, I love this place. It means a lot to me.”

“Okay, why?”

Kaneki took hold of both of Hide’s other hand from across the table.

“I move a lot from ward to ward because my dad is practically needed everywhere. But I always make sure to visit other cafes in whatever ward I end up in and I just _have_  to see if they have good coffee. But then I end up here and the coffee is fucking amazing.” Kaneki offered Hide the cup his coffee came in. Hide shook his head in disgust. That stuff looked black and tasteless.

“Does your mom know you drink that crap?”

“Not anymore. When mom was alive she often worked her ass off for me. After she died, I ended up with Kanou. We weren’t close and still aren’t now. I had to cook, clean and many other things just to keep myself alive.”

Hide felt his heart clench at that. He could sort of relate to Kaneki. His parents themselves often worked too hard. But Kaneki’s mom was dead. Hide was about to apologize but Kaneki interrupted him.

“Hide. You’re gonna leave the CCG one day and maybe even marry some fancy lawyer. But sooner or later everything is gonna turn to shit and you’ll have to turn to something to keep you going. For me, that’s coffee. It just...melts all those problems away. And this place just so happens to make it better than other places do. Now,” Kaneki offers the cup to him again. “Try it.”

Hide looked at the cup. He was reluctant but he ended up grabbing it and taking a sip.

“It’s...not bad. I don't know why I was-” But then the bitterness and some other tastes that he couldn’t identify. “Oh son of a bitch! That’s strong.”

Kaneki shook his head. “It seems you can’t handle it.”

Hide glared at him and was about to say a comeback when the door to the cafe busted open and in walked Furuta Washuu. Shit. He sort of forgot that they were sitting out there.

“Hide!”

Hide looked at Kaneki. “Eh, I gotta go.” He said. Kaneki leaned back in the chair before letting go of his other hand that Hide forgot he was holding onto. He was just forgetting everything when he was around Kaneki, didn’t he? It was sort of sad. Hide picked up the latte whose art was nothing more than swirls of white and brown. Hide quickly downed it and he ignored the sound of disgust that Furuta made.

“Say goodbye to red dawn over there and get back to the car. Seems I just have to do things myself if I want them done.” Furuta said, straightening his outfit before walking up to Touka and ordering. Hide looked back at Kaneki and took his hand before giving it a light squeeze. Kaneki gave him a smile which warmed Hide’s heart. Furuta snapped his fingers as if Hide were a dog he wanted to get the attention of. Hide saw Kaneki step forward as if he were about to pop off with the head Washuu.

Hide put his arm on Kaneki’s shoulder and shook his head to show that it was fine. “Offer still stands. Ditch the party.”

“Nah. I gotta motor. Thanks, though.” Hide patted Kaneki on the shoulder before he picked up the now cold castella started stuffing it into his mouth which seemed to amuse Kaneki. Hide waved goodbye to him as he left the cafe behind Furuta, not really wanting to look away but having to due to the fact that he wouldn’t want to run into a door (or have Furuta trip him).

After they all returned to the car and the Washuus ate their cakes, Hide leaned back in the seat and thought of Ken Kaneki. But as they were driving away, something came to the forefront of Hide’s mind which caused him to pause.

How the hell did he know he was going to a party?

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy, I hope this turns out well. 
> 
> Tell me if there are any typos please because I'll be happy to go back and fix them.


End file.
